5 Bad Work Habits That Keep You from Succeeding

Have no idea what your next employee evaluation will be like? You may not be aware of it, but certain habits you might indulge in during work hours may be keeping you from getting raises and promotions. Trained life coach Elyse Go shares, “Our habits will always reflect our image. We would want to be recommendable and associate ourselves with being dependable.”

Keep reading and identify which of these bad work behaviors you are guilty of, as well as what you can do about them.

1. The Not-so Early Bird

Most companies have policies about tardiness. Whether it’s related to clocking in in the morning, arriving for a meeting, or achieving deadlines, tardiness is not an acceptable habit. Chronic lateness might even have a domino effect in the workplace, as this might affect the performance of any colleagues who might be relying on you, not to mention irk superiors who have better things to do with their time than wait for you.

The time that you give your work speaks of the enthusiasm and even the passion that you have for it. “Tardiness may be an effect of a lifestyle,” Go says. “What makes you late? Is there anything you can do to change your lifestyle? Is there any bad habit that you can choose to let go of in order that you wake up on time? We are all worthy of feeling good about ourselves for being able to keep our commitments.”

2. Being Too E-mail Crazy

Being too eager to respond to e-mails you receive may not be very productive. Also, note that, on the other side of the spectrum, poor e-mail communication habits, such as failing to reply or not being aware of how we sound in the messages sent may also tick people off.

Go suggests managing productivity by spending the first two hours and the last hour of the day for e-mail replies. “If we foresee being busy for the next days and won’t be able to attend to the matter right away considering the bigger scheme of things, at least send a short message to the sender, apologize and be honest to communicate your situation but promise to get to it right away and meet their deadlines.”

3. Social Network Addiciton

Your office may be lenient about you visiting sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as accessing other sites and social networks. However, that does not mean you have to like all posts of your friends and reply to every tweet, especially if you have work pending. Even worse is ranting about your bosses, clients, or company on networking sites may only paint a bad picture of you as a professional (and can even lead to dismissal).

“A lot of self-discipline is required here,” Go says. “Again, always think that your professionalism and credibility are at stake. You need to have a personal consciousness of honesty and integrity towards the company by not stealing office hours for social media.”

4. Overfamiliarity with Your Office Mates

Being too friendly in the office lowers your productivity level. Your boss might think you might be having too much fun and worry that you’re forgetting about work . This may also look like you are putting your personal life ahead of your career. Not only that, the minutes you spend chatting with your office mates also deters them from being productive.

The office should be a place for teamwork and professionalism. There is a place and time for hanging out and sharing a few laughs with your colleagues. “Work life balance is the key,” Go comments. “The regular work hours is eight hours, so know when to stop and deciphering urgent matters from those that are not.”

5. Lack of efficiency

Piled up work, a disorderly desk, and too much talk may lead to inefficiency. The more you procrastinate, the less people will trust you to make your deadlines or deliver quality work.

“Procrastinating will make the quality of our output suffer hence hurt our reliability,” Go says. She advises you “have a mindset of continuous improvement. Get yourself to courses or seminars that will enhance your self discipline, responsibility and commitment to tasks. Again, it is very important to be every conscious of the possibility of losing our job if we’re not alert. Don’t stop developing your skills and perfecting your craft.”

“Do a periodic self assessment as well as even if it is not given,” Go suggests. “Feel free to ask for feedback from your colleagues and superiors. Also give an aura of openness. that you are open to their honest feedback. Give them permission to call your attention. Build good relationships and the tasks may handle itself.. Always find joy in the journey—your work and things to be grateful for instead of what’s wrong.”